Gail Borden opens 'Take Flight' exhibit with programs, hands-on activities

On Monday, Jan. 14, "Take Flight," a dynamic interactive exploration into the creative process of flight, opens at Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave. in downtown Elgin.

The exhibit, which runs through March 14, combines historical information with hands-on activities to engage visitors in creating their own flying experience while learning the fundamental principles of flight. The exhibition was developed by ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum in Ashland, Oregon.

The exhibit features a wind tube, hoverport and a Bernoulli blower that will invite visitors to discover the principles and forces that make flight possible for airplanes, helicopters and rockets. Visitors will explore the history of flight and check out a model of one of the earliest functional plane designs by pioneers of flight, the Wright brothers.

There will be programs that feature an paper airplane and rocket launcher.

In addition, everyone is invited to the Jan. 31 video premiere of "Where Dreams Take Flight," a video created with the support of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System and the Imagination Content Company. It gives viewers a sense of the magic trajectory that launches in young lives when children read and use their public libraries. It will be shown at 6:30 p.m. in the Meadows Community Room.

"We are excited to welcome our community to 'Take Flight'," said Carole Medal, the library's executive director. "The idea of inspiring people to learn more about flight as we are exploring some of the farthest reaches of space as a country, seems so appropriate."

To register for these "Take Flight" programs, visit www.gailborden.info.

• The "Family Style STEAM" will feature "Take Flight!" on Monday, January 21, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Meadows Community Rooms. Learn about flight and aeronautical engineering as you make paper airplanes or rockets together. Then, explore exclusive pieces of the new exhibit, only available in the "Take Flight!" programs!

• "Kids Explore Paper Airplanes" will be offered from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, in the Story Room-South. This program also will stream live at gailborden.info/live.

• In "STEAM Take Flight," explore exclusive pieces of the flight exhibit in this special edition of STEAM on Monday, Feb. 4, in the Meadows Community Rooms. It will be offered for kindergarten to second grade from 4 to 4:45 p.m. and for third- to fifth-graders from 5 to 6 p.m.

• "Wright Brothers, Wrong Story" will be presented by William Hazelgrove from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, in the Meadows Community Rooms. Prepare to take off with new details of a momentous historical event you thought you knew. Hear this new history about Wilbur and Orville Wright, their early years of trial and error at Kitty Hawk, and the hidden details within original archives and family letters that reveal that Wilbur was actually the "Wright" brother who cracked the secret to aerodynamics and achieved liftoff in 1903.

For more information, visit gailborden.info/flight.